LASER Headlamp for Cars?!? How strong is its laser? | Find out how it works and how to power it up

[@terryhayward7905]

I worked with a 10 watt laser years ago at a light show, it took 2 men to lift it and had liquid cooling. Times certainly have changed.

[@svampebob007]

even today it seems crazy that this is just secured by two screws, it's not a "lazer pointer" to the beam would diverge after a couple meters but that's still a 4w diode sold as a head light 🤯

[@Culpride]

Since the laser emits non-ionising radiation the heat would be the biggest issue, no?

[@aarongreenfield9038]

@@terryhayward7905 It was probably an argon laser wasn't it? Those things are known to be notoriously inefficient.

[@Quickened1]

Especially when you realize this could fit in a flashlight...

[@MrHowzaa]

there are 120 watt arrays on ebay as well.

[@Gengh13]

It's worth mentioning that due to the NTC behavior of diodes it is not recommend to put them in parallel without balancing resistors in series with each one because the slightly hotter one will keep having an increasing amount of current that leads to getting even hotter and so on. Fortunately sometimes the parasitic resistance of the external and/or internal connections can be enough to limit this positive feedback loop, but they probably won't share the current equally so operation near the maximum limit is not recommend when operating in parallel without appropriate resistance.

[@MeteorMark]

Resistance isn't futile, in this case 😉🖖

[@FG-Supercharged]

@@MeteorMark OK, now that gave me a chuckle 🤣👍

[@Quickened1]

That's definitely worth mentioning! In this case though, I think that heatsink could handle it for quite a while...

[@Gengh13]

@@Quickened1 yeah, having them thermally connected to that heatsink keeps them at a close temperature thus mitigating some of the NTC effect.

[@brainiac75]

@Geng13 Good point! Thanks for sharing. As you might be able to tell, I am not an electronics engineer and have some of the worst soldering skills in the world :D Especially with new lead-free solder...

[@gonzalez7805]

Let's get some night time beam shots... Would love to see how far they throw...

[@volvo09]

Looks like it has a nice tight beam designed to be thrown at another reflector, possibly. I would like to see it shine across a dark yard too.

[@1MBStudios]

Some Audi's had an option for Lazer headlights. It would light up over a mile ahead for when you are driving 120+MPH so you can see obstacles at night before they become a problem

[@InvisibleSquids]

​@1MBStudios no car should be traveling at 120mph on regular roads... features like that enable dangerous driving, encourage it even.

[@volvo09]

​@@InvisibleSquidsAudi is German... The Autobahn exists there. It's the drivers risk to drive that fast at night, at those speeds a deer encounter could easily be fatal, nevermind anything else.

[@InvisibleSquids]

@volvo09 that's not the case. Most of the BAB has an advisory speed limit of 130kph, or 81 mph. There were only 15% of traffic moving faster than 170kph (106 mph). Regardless, the point is that it's obviously not safe to travel that fast. Allowing people to decide that is foolish because there is a startling number of people who have zero risk analytical capabilities.

[@brainiac75]

Hi! I am currently at a Christmas party that I need to get back to. But I will read all comments and answer as many questions as possible later. Hope you enjoy the video!

[@㘭]

I sure will enjoy the video

[@gregs8672]

Is it just me? I want to check out your sponsor but the link doesn't work.

[@NyrinTriball]

Based "checking my stuff to make sure it works for my fans" creator.

[@MC-Racing]

God julefrokost.. god bedring med tømmermændene :-)

[@christopherleubner6633]

A very good use for these is to replace the xenon lamps for expensive microscopes. They make similar amounts of light to a 150W xenon bulb.😮

[@soundspark]

Quite ironic how a powerful laser is also very sensitive and easily killed.

[@Beni_777]

So called "glass cannon"

[@No_Way_NO_WAY]

@@Beni_777 darn, just wanted to reply that. You beat me to it.

[@970357ers]

With great power comes great resistivity

[@moki123g]

The blue diodes actually are pretty tough to kill.

[@Quickened1]

Once it's wired correctly, it's far from a glass cannon. I mean they put them in automotive headlamps, gotta be fairly robust for that...

[@andymouse]

I can't imagine the Phosphor lasting that long being irradiated quite so aggressively.

[@TheRailroad99]

I'm pretty sure it won't. But that doesn't matter as modern cars aren't that long lasting anyways :(

[@_BangDroid_]

@@TheRailroad99 And hyperinflation causing labor costs to skyrocket, repair is even more prohibitively expensive

[@christopherleubner6633]

It does. The phosphor is a small slab of polycrystalline Ce Pr YAG bonded onto sapphire. It could theoretically take hundreds of watts provided you can keep it cool.

[@andymouse]

@@christopherleubner6633 Well there a thing ! a product that could so easily have a built in 'expiry day' and the company said Nah let's make it last forever...awesome.

[@Badspot]

These things have been used in production vehicles for years. You can tell when a car behind you has them because the shadow of your car will be very sharp, due to the tighter point light source than a standard headlight. It's actually annoying AF.

[@aarongreenfield9038]

I've tested one of these that I got off of a car at a junkyard, And I got a little over 8W out of it. It probably would have did more but I didn't want to pop it. It would ignite steel wool, cut wood, and pretty much incinerate anything before it.

[@DARKredDOLLAR]

"imma firing my lazors!" - cars with these for headlights, probably.

[@aarongreenfield9038]

@DARKredDOLLAR Cars with frickin laser beams attached to their frickin headlights, (Dr evil probably)

[@Quickened1]

Year and make please!!!

[@aarongreenfield9038]

@Quickened1 It looked like an Audi, but not sure of the year or make, Maybe in A5, but it was pretty crashed up, and somebody had already pulled the motor and most everything else from it, but it looked like 2015 ish or so.

[@Quickened1]

@aarongreenfield9038 awesome, thanks for replying. I'll probably just let eBay be my guide, in the unlikely event I ever buy one and try to turn it into a flashlight!!! Haha 👍🏻

[@billsinkins361]

About 30 years ago I went to one of those planetarium laser shows, and they bragged about their 1 watt krypton laser... now you can buy a 4 watt laser for less than $100, amazing

[@dash8brj]

I have a small argon laser here - it draws 2.4kW from the wall, and produces a 100mW beam. It requires serious forced air cooling as well. Its about the size of a large shoe box and weighs around 10kg. Yep how times have changed. On the shelf sits a 5 watt laser diode module about 2cm round and 5cm long! It uses passive air cooling and can run off two 18650 cells.

[@JayWye52]

the military has developed 50KW+ diode-pumped fiber lasers for shipboard air defense,against drones and fast attack boats. they're working towards 150KW lasers. US Army has one mounted on a Stryker armored vehicle. they're compact and efficient.

[@JayWye52]

@@dash8brj your argon (gas) laser uses a HV power supply for the laser tube, most of that power makes heat. OTOH,the diode laser passes battery current directly thru the diode.

[@dash8brj]

@@JayWye52 Yep it uses around 100VDC at 8-10 amps to run and several kv to start the arc. They are woefully inefficient compared to diode lasers. They do sport better beam profiles than diodes although singlemode diodes do get quite close.

[@brucemblue]

not sure if you meant that THIS laser is 4 watts... just wanted to point out that it's 3 amps at about 4 volts, so closer to 12 watts (even crazier).

[@ehsnils]

I have now resorted to using yellow tinted polarized glasses at night to preserve my night vision because this technology seems to exist in every so called "glare free" headlight. You may think that it's bad for night vision, but every occurrence without the yellow tint leaves residual blind spots on my retina for several seconds each time I meet a car with those high color temperature headlights while the residual blind spots are marginal with those tinted glasses. It tells me that it's time to revisit the approval of those headlights as well as the adjustments of them.

[@filonin2]

Laser headlights were only used on select BMW's and are now banned in the US due to Vehicle Safety Standard rule 108, which limits headlight power on vehicles sold in the US to 150,000 candela, where European systems allow up to 430,000 candela.

[@ehsnils]

@@filonin2 I'm in Europe though. But I also consider that there are two factors that are bad. The color temperature and the coherence of the light waves. A color temperature limit to around 2700 to 3000K should be imposed to avoid retina burnout.

[@bigboss-tl2xr]

I just wear my polarized sunglasses at night 😎

[@MadScientist267]

Lights in general. Sick of all of the unchecked obnoxiousness out there

[@bubba99009]

@@ehsnils Too high of a color temp will get you pulled over in the states also - once they appear to be "blue" >~4500K they are no longer legal and the police can pull you over and write a ticket for that. Kind of counterproductive to run super high temps like that too since it will hurt your ability to see in foggy conditions.

[@Benlucky13]

there is the 'luminous flux' in the spec sheet for some optical power info. looks like 800 lumens at it's max of 3A for the laser lamp. those LEDs you have list 160-240 at 750ma, so with 4 of them at max power that's between 640 and 960 lumens. lumens per watt is more telling, at 4.3 V and 3A that's ~24lm/watt. while those LEDs at 3.8v and .75A are hitting between 56 and 84lm/watt. higher end LEDs like Cree-XPL's hit double that, ~160lm/watt (binning dependent)

[@MeriaDuck]

Ah thanks

[@IF23428]

LEDs hgher lumen, LEPs higher candela. I own LED flashlights with around 25.000 Lumens but low on candela, but i also own LEP flashlights (acebeam w35 DEL) that has 1.690.000cd but only 800 lumens.

[@jan237]

@@IF23428 basically lasers are by nature more focused than LEDs

[@Mikkel111]

@@IF23428 With a big enough reflector there should be no point to an inferior LEP. Unless you need super focused light from a tiny flashlight. Which I don't see the usecase of.

[@ericthecyclist]

@@jan237 a laser is more focused, but does the phospher preserve the direction of the absorbed photon or does it emit photons in any random direction?

[@GOPRepubliklan]

I bet carmakers can't wait to get these in vehicles. Seems extra fragile, expensive, and of dubious improvement over existing technology.

[@Xeno274]

BMW introduced that tech with the i8 in 2014 AFAIR. AUDI used it too. But both seem to have no intention to use it in the future and now rely on LED only.

[@Fhwgads11]

You could get laser headlights in the BMW X7, and new housings (if you broke one, say, in an accident) cost you a cool $7500 each. I think LEDs are advancing past the need for something extra complex like laser headlights.

[@Quickened1]

​@@Fhwgads11 $7500 ouch😖 yeah, no. I'll take L.E.D. I had no idea they cost that much, wow...

[@TMS5100]

laser headlights have been in vehicles for many years now. though use is dying off since regular LED headlights are now as efficient and much cheaper.

[@DarkAttack14]

It is already in vehicles already

[@pontiacg445]

The first commercial LEP application I know of used a phosphor on a motor and ~24 watts of blue laser power focused onto a teeny tiny point on that rotating phosphor. It chucked an obscene amount of white light, or blue light if you removed the wheel...

[@JPNZ1]

Sounds like a laser projector

[@N4CR]

@@JPNZ1 Casio projectors were where laser show industry harvested sources from since 2002 or so. Now you can buy them direct.

[@seanyem]

This more than EXCITES me, I'm been retro-fitting old Stage Moving Head Fiztures that usually have a 250w Metal Halide Lamp's with BIG COB LEDs with Massive Heat Sicks, This changes everything i could replace to big drivers, big heat sicks and big COB LEDs with something much smaller with a nicer beam and more nicer quality of light.

[@rootney]

Please post the video If you ever get a setup like that together I'm also interested in what model and make of Lights are you talking about i assume dmx control stage lights?

[@DansWay]

I noticed in the datasheet for it that the CRI was only 60. Wouldn't this low value make for poor lighting in a studio/stage environment?

[@Smart-Skippy]

CRI of 65.... That is really abysmal. Anything less that say 85 is iffy. More than 90 would be where you'd want to be.

[@redpheonix1000]

To be fair, you don't really need good color rendering for driving at night. After all, the old HPS lamps were only around 20 CRI

[@Smart-Skippy]

@@redpheonix1000 Which is why the majority were exchanged for MV or MH ! LPS sucks except for l/w.

[@Karjis]

@@redpheonix1000 oh you really would, because you differentiate for example animals from bushes by color. It's easy to see the old car that had really good halogen lights, but not nearly as bright as the current with matrix LED setup. But still it feels that it was way easier to see things at distance with this good halogen setup. With the LED setup grass is somewhat grayish green, with halogen it was bright green. For example deer was clear brown.. but with these matrix LED's the deer appear black. They really should combine things and up the CRI and dial the color temperature down just a bit (to 4000K or so) because that is the sensitive area when it is not that bright than day. Upping the CRI is just about the LED chip phosphor coating quality. With LED setup it is like (if anyone remembers) walking with those first gen blue LED flashlights. You had light but could not really see anything.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

Here in the red state of Florida, there has been an alarming trend towards utterly devastatingly-blinding giant headlights on the giant pickup trucks of all the country boys around here. because just taking up four parking spots was not inconvenient enough for everyone else.

[@TsunauticusIV]

They likely use improper bulbs meant for a projector housing in reflector housings and then they also neglect to properly aim their headlights after lifting their vehicles. I’ve driven lofted trucks since I was a teenager and it’s a pet peeve of mine to have headlights that do not blind other drivers.

[@WeAreAllLemmings]

Literally so true, me in my sedan in south Florida getting blinded, their lowbeams are stringer than my highbeams

[@stitchfinger7678]

Beyond inconvenient, literally unsafe. Also, isn't it funny that the guys that build vehicles that CAUSE accidents, are also most likely to survive them, cuz they're in an SUV cab 10 feet in the air?

[@volvo09]

​@@TsunauticusIV this... It's the cheap LED drop in bulbs in halogen housings.

[@V3ntilator]

In Norway and Europe you are forced to deliver a car for full check every second year. If you don't do it within date, the police takes your number plates. Some of the reasons for this check is to check if you use illegal lights, have wrong position on them, not blending other cars etc. Isn't there a forced check like this in USA?

[@alexlittig7927]

You should check out LEP flashlights. There are quite a few manufacturers making them now. They are designed for long distances illumination. Maxtoch makes a dual head lep light that has 5 million candela of throw. Or about 3 miles. I have a pocketable lep light that outputs 1000 lumens and mesusres 1.1 mcd of throw. Really impressive focusability with lep technology.

[@N4CR]

This literally is LEP. They are very simple and very overpriced because most torch non-builder people don't know anything.

[@alexlittig7927]

@N4CR you do realize the reason I made this post because this video is about lep technology.

[@CaffeinatedSentryGnome]

I have a lumintop thor 3 LEP flashlight which has about 1.5 million candela. It's really good at pointing at very specific things in the very far distance.

[@Bassotronics]

I came up with this laser lamp concept back around 1998 or so in high school. I actually have it drawn on a notebook sheet. It shows the laser bouncing around all the clear walls of the lamp at certain angles to create a nice red glow. It was a design for brake lights but not for front headlights.

[@cmuller1441]

Connecting LEDs in parallel without at least a small resistor for negative feedback per LED is a bad idea. As you said it's NTC means that if one takes a little bit more power or has a poorer thermal contact with the heatsink its temperature will raise. So its voltage for the same current decreases. As the voltage is the same on all LEDs then its current increase and it can snowball. At the end you'll have big current differences and 3A will not be 0.75+0.75+0.75+0.75 but maybe 2+0.5+0.3+0.2... Be

[@jaro6985]

Its fine if the LEDs are matched well enough, which they usually are as you can see from the video.

[@mjouwbuis]

It's not exactly fine, but in practice if they're reasonably matched and thermally coupled, you can get away with it. Also, the wires add some resistance, even if not as much as would ideally be needed. For an optimal life, you would put them in series or use individual drivers or resistors.

[@bragapedro]

Impressive power for such a tiny thing! Would be amazing to have a thermal camera to show how much that brick heats up in the full power test.

[@MadHatter11371]

‘Tis what she proclaimed

[@PeteSnipe]

Impressive demo. I wasn't aware these were already used in vehicles. The sponsors products look remarkably attractive!

[@jnhrtmn]

Smaller more powerful spots of light ruin other people's night vision. I can't imagine how this is a good idea.

[@Quickened1]

There should be tougher government regulation on how "illuminating" headlights can be. Some sort of industry standard across the board, before everyone is blinded...

[@TMS5100]

@@Quickened1 there is, both in europe and the US. study up. it's more restrictive in the US, europe allows ~3x more light output.

[@DarkAttack14]

@@Quickened1 There already is

[@DarkAttack14]

Adaptive headlights... other vehicles are put into shadow while the rest is lit up. Audi already does this with LEDS and their active matrix setup

[@gorak9000]

@@TMS5100 Yeah, but it's completely unenforced - driving at night has gotten so much worse in the last couple of years - the f'ing lights are out of control these days. The worst offenders are people with high trucks that put some kind of cheap led retrofit bulbs into old headlights and the beams are all over the place, but even some new cars with "well designed" headlights are way too bright and aimed way too high these days - I especially notice the newest Teslas seems to be absolutely blinding when they're facing you. Either that or everyone just drives with brights on all the time now. It's insane out there!

[@armegeddon11]

Got the radiacode 103 and the discount saved me around 30 dollars for shipping to America. Thanks!

[@alexcaps500]

11:25: "in case you have to find them on the floor, like I had to". 😂

[@Smart-Skippy]

Bwahahaaha. I always have a magnet from a hard drive hand as well as a cheap laser level which throws a line. I'm such a clutz!

[@threeMetreJim]

Lol. About right. I might take 20 minutes to repair something, and then the next hour hunting for the tiniest last screw that I managed to drop on the floor. Murphy's law in full effect. Lucky I don't do repairs for a living.

[@gabrielv.4358]

In Brazil we have some laser beams vehicles (And most of the times) retrofitted on older vehicles. This is worse than retrofit high powered beams.... In a highway or anywhere you encounter those, it blinds you instantly. Life threat!

[@williamhuang8309]

Honestly car headlights have been getting brighter and brighter and have exceeded what I would consider to be a safety hazard. It's gotten so bad that if you accidentally look into an approaching vehicle's headlights, good luck seeing anything for the next few seconds. These things and LED headlights really need to be regulated in terms of where they are allowed to be mounted and brightness.

[@mediocreman2]

Yep, it's gotten so bad, I will actually put my hand up on the window to protect my eyes. Of course, I won't see if that vehicle is turning left in front of me, but I might not see anything at all if I don't put my hand up.

[@brine80]

In a lot of states light are regulates, in fact here in NY it is illegal to remove any lighting component that came from the factory, as well as illegal to add any that didn't come from the factory. Anyone that has crappy lights should be encouraged to swap them for better ones, however they should be properly aimed and not exceed a certain amount of light output. People don't really follow this rule though, they replace stock halogen bulbs with L.E.D. bulbs that don't spread the beam as intended for the housing they are in, and spew light all over the place.

[@VEC7ORlt]

Oh shush, they are regulated, if anything beam quality of normal LED headlight is way better than anything with lightbulbs.

[@dylanevans5644]

​@@VEC7ORlt It isn't about 'beam quality' - many LED headlamps completely change the angle the lamp housing reflects light at, and are far brighter in those spots. Resulting in a beam that directs far too much light into other drivers eyes even when dipped. You can see this on torque test channel where he shows the light scatter in housings.

[@VEC7ORlt]

@@dylanevans5644 I've said LED headlight, not LED retrofit headlight. Thats is a reason you won't pass vehicle inspection or with those.

[@smeggyhead1]

5:01 worriers about the switching PSU delivering "inherently" noisy current, then connects the laser driver which has a switching supply. The "4R7" inductor and the supply current of 1.7A (when delivering 3A) is a bit of a giveaway.

[@jaro6985]

Yeah its just a bit safer as the big PSU can dump more energy if the leads happen to disconnect and reconnect.

[@Piano_Castle]

Oh, goodie!! So the current, cornea-burning headlamps of the past few years aren't enough??? Can't wait...

[@Zenodilodon]

Excellent video with solid information for calibrating laser drivers.

[@Roobotics]

3:08 Attaching the LEDs in parallel like that is actually a good way to cascade failure them all if left unattended. If any starts heating unevenly and taking more current it can still thermal run-away and drop it's Vf until it's absorbing more of the 3A current and past it's 750mA limit. I'm sure you probably know, but should probably mention that for others that might want to emulate your methods. The proper way to drive LEDs with a CC supply is all in series at a single diode's rated current OR if you're going to parallel them, give them each a current-balance resistor if they must be used in parallel. Obviously in this case it was a 'hack' to make a diode dummy load, but not a good way to drive them.

[@-Sean_]

I pinched my finger in some weak magnets a couple hours ago and it reminded me of you. Now I found this in my recommended!

[@betterlifeexe]

its crazy how many outright scary lasers are just sitting around in small devices these days, and people who buy it don't even know. luckily, they are usually encased and regulated to useful power levels, but not always...

[@paradiselost9946]

visited a friend. her husband comes out, brandishing a torch... "CHECK OUT MY LASER POINTER!!!! IT BURNS HOLES IN THINGS!!!!" i cover my face behind a handy cushion... "just let us know when you turn the freaking thing OFF!" yeah, i appreciate my retinas being firmly attached and working... next time i visit im taking some laser goggles...

[@0xphk]

Love your videos and finally ordered a Radiacode102 as I couldn't resist today, thanks for the free shipping ;)

[@bar10005]

5:10 that laser driver is also a switching power supply, so that comment makes no sense

[@andymouse]

The point he was making is that a dedicated constant current supply for the LASER is infinitely better than a cheap £40 powersupply from Bangood.

[@bar10005]

@@andymouse That driver costs even less, like 1/5 of that, so they will be of similar quality, laser would be just fine powered by the PSU.

[@andymouse]

@@bar10005 Yes it probably would, but cut the guy a bit of slack will you ? he explained he knew nothing about this and wanted to learn and show his process and it was great, Me I might just grab an LM317T and use it in constant current mode chuck in couple of caps and the odd resistor and be done with it ok ? goodnight.

[@fermitupoupon1754]

@@andymouse Use a 350 instead of the 317.

[@andymouse]

@@fermitupoupon1754 It was a quick example nothing more.

[@tookitogo]

5:05 or so: Modern laser diodes aren’t quite as sensitive as old ones. At work, I support the laser labs (used by chemists to do stuff that’s way above my pay grade), and they drive many solid state lasers with very simple power supplies, including just constant-voltage supplies. They’ll just casually power up a 10W laser with a bench supply and crank up the voltage until they reach 10W, then come and ask me to build a MOSFET switch so they can pulse it from some TTL trigger. 😂 (Apparently it’s working fine.) They also brought in for inspection/repair a commercial high-speed pulsed laser driver that they somehow managed to overheat (though it still works!) by accidentally feeding it a constant enable signal instead of the nanosecond-scale pulses it’s envisioned for. 70V compliance voltage, but intended to basically dump the load from two big ceramic caps. Good times!

[@㘭]

Now time to put this on a car and make a transformer with laser eyes 🔥🔥

[@jochenstacker7448]

I just stumbled across this channel and already I am hooked! I may not understand half of it, but this is really interesting. In the ad for the sponsor, I usually skip those, but radiation mapping? Damn, I'm so on board with that!

[@theschwag]

These headlights are getting out of hand. I'll take 4 and stick them on my grill! Always need more lights!

[@10100rsn]

Your videos are always interesting and with detailed information. Thank you for everything you do.

[@targuscinco]

Light emitting piode. I like those.

[@jan237]

does it have 3.14 electrical terminals then?

[@DrArkham.]

laser-excited phosphor

[@targuscinco]

@@DrArkham. last encoded package.

[@targuscinco]

@@jan237 bye bye miss American piode!

[@dimondbackkirby]

Great video, very interesting product you found! Can't wait for the next part!

[@ulrikwilken]

What spectrum does it have

[@Cobra365]

I believe it’s called autism.

[@SixOhFive]

450nm

[@Smart-Skippy]

@@SixOhFive That's the laser source. The phosphors spread the spectrum.

[@casemodder89]

at cri 65 a really bad one !

[@brainiac75]

Hi Ulrik. I will measure it in my upcoming December video. It is not great... Do not expect good color rendition from this laser headlamp. At least the spec sheet for it seems to be honest ;) Thanks for the early watch and comment!

[@madbstard1]

I was screaming "Turn it up! More power" at the end lol. Can't wait till the next video

[@EverybodyEditsHacks]

I shared your video with the "Fuckyourheadlights" subReddit. I hope that is ok! Please Braniac, in your next video could you compare the brightness to a light safety chart for our eyes? I would really like to know how bad this is for your eyes when someones crests a hill or hits a bump and these flash you directly in the eyes

[@MrCool00236]

I agree, headlights these days are way too bright, brake lights and turn signals are also way to bright. I'm light sensitive and will sometimes need to wear sunglasses while driving at night to avoid getting a bad migraine from the insanely bright lights of modern cars. I live in the countryside so when driving at night my eyes are adjusted to complete darkness, there are no streetlights here, so when another car comes, at best it hurts (low beam), and at worst I can't see the road at all, only the other cars blinding lights. And having to sit behind a car at a read light hurts too.

[@brainiac75]

Of course you can share it. This is a public video and I encourage sharing it :) In my next video, I will measure the lux in the central beam. I have not tried it yet but have a feeling it will be a new record on my luxmeter... At some distance, I find it unlikely that this light is strong enough to damage eyes in shorter time than the blink reflex. But traffic safety is a completely different matter... Thanks for the early watch, comment and sharing!

[@GeorgeEllis-q1u]

Great job, both careful science and description of your process.

[@mbox314]

In an age when most people are complaining about LED headlights blinding them automakers decided to make the problem worse and shine lasers into the eyes of oncoming traffic.

[@riff42]

Except, they aren't shining a laser into traffic....at all. That isn't how this works. Also, people adding LED bubls to halogen headlights are also a problem that people forget about, and then blame OEM. OEM is fine, it's the idiots that blind everyone else cause "wooo led", are the problem.

[@JayWye52]

@@riff42 yep,it's the phosphor that's emitting the white light,same as in white LEDs. LEDs without phosphor coatings are monochrome,one color,no white.

[@DustinRNewton]

I have used LEP flashlights for many years. Relatively low power and a REALLY long throw. It's very cool tech!

[@lonertic]

I have laser headlights on our car, this is a great video! Their main advantage isn't just about outright brightness, it's the tight beam pattern they create that even projector HID's can't produce. They work in conjunction with LED low beam, with the laser high beam creating a pencil beam that projects for several KM down the highway without any stray light going to oncoming traffic, their beam pattern is the real MVP here.

[@afti03]

Thank God for smart and ingenious people like this!

[@xpkareem]

This is why I'm blinded by oncoming cars. They are shining freakin high powered laser lights at me.

[@TMS5100]

the use of laser lights are dying off, LEDs are now brighter, more efficient, and cheaper than laser lights.

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

Recall in the 70s when rectangular headlights first appeared stateside - heard a[t least one) driver claiming they burned holes in their head (read in a tabloid).

[@TMS5100]

@@KOZMOuvBORG they probably already had holes in their head to begin with

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

@@TMS5100 note the source - OP retrieved a half-century-old (autistic) memory.

[@vaulthecreator]

​​@@TMS5100"LEDs are now brighter, more efficient....." Oh, much better 😒 That's essentially the reason why I no longer ride my bicycle at night. Around here there are 4WDs with up to *SIX* (!!!!) led light bars strapped to the front and they don't give 2 shits about cyclists. What I would give for a bicycle headlight that could return the sentiment.

[@hascrack3783]

The blue tool used on the potentiometer is something I didn't know I needed

[@RandomNothing88]

Instant blinder. Imagine someone flashing high beams at you for no reason and then you flash them back with this abomination.

[@InvisibleSquids]

Let's not encourage people to intentionally blind others for petty reasons, kay?

[@Flesh_Wizard]

long range paint stripper

[@TMS5100]

modern LED headlights are brighter, more efficient, and way cheaper than this. that's why bmw stopped using them in the x5 and x7. just because it has "laser" in the name doesn't mean it performs better.

[@IANHANDS]

​@@Flesh_Wizard You require education.

[@RandomNothing88]

@@TMS5100 this is a class 4 laser which means that it blinds instantly and incinerates things. LEDs are cheaper and more efficient but not brighter than a fucking class 4 laser. It's just that lasers are useless at lightning because of narrow beams. And also dangerous.

[@ONRIPRESENCE]

I was waiting for a long time to get my hands on an LEP flashlight and finally got one this year. It's pretty awesome.

[@iLife64]

I wish reflective bulb headlights would make a comeback, I drive a ton at night and newer vehicle low beams leave me blind and sometimes makes a black spot

[@Thatdavemarsh]

Great video. Really enjoyed it!

[@linuxguy1199]

Nice, gonna have to mount some of these on my daily driver, people here never turn off LED high beams, so I mounted 4 light bars (2 on hood, 2 on roof, each have 48 COB LEDs at 250W) that I use to combat their LEDs. Usually flashing them makes the other driver turn off their high beams. Or if they leave theirs on, I leave mine on.

[@paradiselost9946]

riding a moto, ive found people very quickly dip if i simply ride on the wrong side of the road...

[@randomtux1234]

thanks for that man, was looking for these babies and how to drive them, cheers

[@Jujudo]

"I found this awesome laser, I'm also making a video later on more cool shit it can do" See this is why I watch this channel you've got like a childlike infatuation with anything dangerous

[@stapuft]

I didn't even know laser headlights were a thing I thought it was going to be something that you made, a unique One of a kind thing not a commercial product.

[@garrettburrows442]

I had an buddy tell me leds do not put off enough heat, I showed him my 300,000 thousand lumen flashlight and gave him a sun burn, it's also good for killing spiders

[@MrFaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

I've never seen an LEP lamp before. really simple but clever!

[@gorgeousdzastr]

Ok so how do people driving oncoming cars know what “glasses” to wear so they’re not harmed by this “laser light”? ROFL

[@StevePimen]

No protective glasses is necessary because the LASER beam is 'dispersed'. The clip author messed up with dispersion and tested the unprotected LASER.

[@jdhill770]

The laser is not visible to anyone in oncoming traffic. The laser is fully shileded from view. The unit uses a small mirror in the upper housing to redirect the beam through that small hole in the reflector, and shine it directly down onto the phosphor mpunted on the bottom of the housing under the reflector. The phosphor is basically the same as whats in an LED, except instead of being directly energized by the diode underneath it, this one is energized by the laser remotely. It simply allows for a much higher intensity level to be generated, which means you can create very intense and fsr reaching beams with very small optics at very low power levels. You could generate a similarly intense beam from any other light source, halogen, LED or HID, but you would need much larger lamp housings.

[@materialdialectics]

6:44 I really hate those blue pots with the very tiny screw, I always run into that problem when I'm turning and turning with nothing happening and I'm wondering whether I broke it or something. Granted that one you're dealing with seems to work much better than the one's I've usually used.

[@cmem7604]

i injured my eyes with a laser recently, i am now anti technology.

[@albyboy4278]

That's unfortunate.. 😢

[@AbbasKhan-ey9kv]

Industrial revolution and it's consequence

[@jdods8398]

Bmw uses this technology with 3 lazers in each high beam. I have the Acebeam w30 that I have owned for 5 years. And recently bought the w35. This is going to be the new standard.

[@EnergyTRE]

Horrible idea... Lasers are point source emissions, that's no good to look at and magnifying it too. It's like the plutonium jewelry all over again. They literally will sell you anything it seems 🤦🤷 thanks for the share

[@brainiac75]

As far as I know, no new cars are built with laser headlamps anymore? Maybe for good reasons ;) I will go into more details when I compare the laser headlamp with the LED in the next video. Thanks for the early watch!

[@EnergyTRE]

@brainiac75 my pleasure friend. I'd not miss anything you have to offer. I have tons of off social media questions 😂 and answers 🫡💯

[@albyboy4278]

This module is from BMW car used for high beam, the only one using the technology in that way.. The point source laser emission is directed to the phosphorus disc not used as a direct source light, the video shows it clearly. Anyway, LEDs nowadays are quite powerful so no need for lasers to make them super bright.

[@filonin2]

@@EnergyTRE If you watch the video (before commenting) you will see that the laser shines onto a phosphor that glows so it's not a point source.

[@EnergyTRE]

@@filonin2 😂 doesn't change the fact it's a crappy source of light for humanities eyes. At what % is it defused smart guy ?? Guess what unless it's 100% your still being exposed to a point source object not a radiant one.

[@kleetus92]

You may want to take a look at Fenix company and their LEP flashlights. I have 2 of them for weapons systems... very tight white beam that carries for a VERY long way with a lot of light. Check out the TK30R. Very impressive. I was honestly wondering when LEP would show up in car headlight assemblies... they're probably what's in my 24 Platinum F250... they're steerable and they move around and power up and down depending on what's in front of you. They work very well. I was never a fan of LED headlights, I'd take HID any day of the week over them as they never had the same punch,... but these ones... wow.

[@johnwick5918]

Omg I haven’t seen this KZbin channel for soooo many years

[@CTCTraining1]

Fascinating new tech … I note that here in the uk the Transport Research Laboratory is currently investigating the impact of modern headlights on drivers (and presumably the people they hit). Are these laser driven lights actually in any production cars yet do we know?

[@TMS5100]

laser lights have been in vehicles for many years now. bmw x5 and x7 for example. though they are being discontinued because regular LEDs are now brighter, more efficient, and way cheaper.

[@N4CR]

@@TMS5100 LEDs are not brighter at distance. Lasers win that contest every time. They are cheaper. Brighter in terms of total lumens output, yes this is correct.

[@tookitogo]

@@N4CRSince laser headlamps do not project a laser beam, but rather plain old incoherent white light, how can there be any difference in the distance they throw? That should be entirely up to the total light output and the optics that focus it.

[@anon_y_mousse]

I must admit, this is probably one of the best surprise uses of a laser I've seen.

[@Steve_Larson]

That Fluke 179 is an awesome meter, mine is 30 years old and looks like it's been through a war. Works perfectly!

[@JayWye52]

his other meter has only a 1 Megohm input Z. the Fluke is 10 Meg,wont load high impedance circuits as much. something to keep in mind,just a FYI.

[@LucaLegos563]

I was just saying to myself “it’s been a month, is he going to post?” Then posts. Love the channel

[@napnapnop]

Great video!!!!!! Very interesting!!!!

[@CybershamanX]

Didn't the Ebay listing say that this was for wood working tools? It would be interesting to see how well they work on a vehicle, though. I'm curious if they are actually too bright for on-road use, though. 🤔 Cool video, btw! 😎👍☮️

[@gotindrachenhart]

I wonder if styropyro has messed with these yet. I'm a little torn with the idea of laser headlights. On one hand I think it just makes sense as you can have a bright beam that is very directional. On the other, I can see it lending itself to the aftermarket parts getting out of hand rather quickly. Here in the states at least, on a per-state basis, vehicle lights cannot exceed certain levels or angles. The problem is that it isn't really enforced because if it was all trucks would instantly be ticketed. Some states have started limiting the wavelength as well so that a light cannot go beyond say, 10K Kelvin. And I think that's the way to do it. I've seen lights that are rather bright, right on the edge of being too bright but, not quite. And these are the ones that are within the temperature limits. Bright....but they don't blind you even though my brain says it's bright it doesn't hurt. But nothing helps if you live in an area like mine with lots of small undulations and hills in the terrain. Oncoming cars still mean you're going to look into their beams at some point even for a moment. My car has LEDs and even on low I constantly get flashed about my lights. Passed one person who, as I got along side, flickered his lights. When I looked over he motioned to the beams then down at his dash.....pointed to my eyes, then the front of my car....turned on the highs and watched his car visibly twitch and he waved an apology lol. I just drive a GTi, it doesn't have monster lights in it.

[@christopherleubner6633]

Doing it right, the LED has a similar voltage drop as the laser and if the power supply powers that ok then it will be fine. One issue I've noticed is that some constant current power supplies lose regulation on start up and shutdown. ❤

[@thetourk]

Interesting video well presented. I can see the advantages for car headlamps especially for evs, but it depends on how robust the unit is. Projector lamps are notoriously expensive, the new laser projectors produce a fantastic light but cost double, so would be interested to see if it wax possible to replace a hydrogen bold with a home made laser

[@jackdale9249]

This is awesome ! want to find a way to use them as car headlights!

[@ljprep6250]

Pretty darned cool. the only problem with that light being put inside a headlight housing is the distribution. It most certainly would not meet the DOT aiming guidelines or anti-glare requirements (which are already broken by LED and HID housings. I look forward to your next episode of the BAL (bright arse laser). P.S: One or two of those would make killer security lamps in the yard, I'll bet. Won't the neighbors love that?

[@tookitogo]

Blue lasers are also how modern high-end video projectors (think digital cinema and commercial, not home theater) are illuminated. They use a blue laser source, which strikes a spinning phosphor disc (which makes it easier to cool so it doesn’t burn a hole through the phosphor) that generates white light, then dichroic beam-splitters separate it into RGB for each DLP chip, then the three colors are merged again to emerge from the lens. The fanciest digital cinema projectors today either augment that with a red LED or laser, or use actual RGB lasers.

[@entronics]

Have you thought about using lenses to either focus or spread the beams? It would be cool to see a demonstration of this in a dark room to see how much it illuminates the surrounding area. one cool thing to try would be to focus the beam on a rotating mirror so it creates a full 360 degree flat plane or wave and then to blow smoke or water vapor through it. When I had done that I used a pc fan as the mirror rotator.

[@topalofff]

Handheld DIY torch with brightness control will look awesome )

[@jackdale9249]

most states you do not have any inspection ! I use very bright lights will love to use theses as lights you need to just put lights back to OEM before inspection and then after put the modified i keep my lights aimed well and do not use high beams w/ oncoming cars so no issues noone enforces the silly headlight laws in USA older people ( all the ones complaining here) need to realize as we get older we lose night vision AND get more sensitive to glare i use night driving yellow glasses they do help tho they do reduce all light but when I have traffic they help esp driving my low slung ferrari ! i am below most headlights so I get it full blast! i make it a point to not look at lights use my sun visor to help block some light and the yellow glasses you can even get polarized anti-glare coatings see your optician!😄😄

[@StevePimen]

Great clip! However, the key point of using dispersed laser technology as a headlamp is efficiency-it’s supposed to surpass the efficiency of even the latest LED headlamps. Otherwise, why go through all the complications? These include: 1. Developing dispersed optics. 2. Using expensive, proprietary laser systems with specialized power supplies or current stabilizers/limiters. You should prioritize measuring and comparing the efficiency using your advanced tools (which I appreciate) before highlighting how "cool" lasers are. The real selling point should be saving auxiliary battery energy while increasing brightness compared to the latest LEDs. As for why car manufacturers haven’t adopted this widely yet: 1. Lifespan is generally shorter than LEDs. 2. Higher costs!! 3. Complexity in design and manufacturing. 4. Greater sensitivity to temperature and other environmental variables. For example, no driver would willingly drive without headlights in cold blizzard!

[@itsjustchloe9635]

OH i love the radiocode. thx to it i found my strongest uranium rock ever in Kurnkelbach, germany and thx to its mapping feature i found an open ore vain near me in the forest

[@harryshector]

Current LED headlamps produce light patterns that are very hard for some drivers to handle. I wonder what the ‘need’ justification is for lamps of this intensity. I can see some military or crowd-control applications for a device like this, but I’m unconvinced that they will be much of an improvement for highway usage.

[@hashbrown777]

3:16 well if they each have NTC properties too then just whacking them in parallel isn't safe.. all it takes is one to get a fraction hotter than the others, it's resistance goes down relative to the others, so it takes on more current than the others. Even though them all together would read as taking 3A the hot one will take more than 750mA and get hotter and steal more current and burn out

[@freman]

looks like a great ugrade for the floodlights around the yard :D

[@MrDoboz]

Just think about why those are called flood. Good alternative only if you plan to put these on 200m high poles

[@freman]

@@MrDoboz Eh, just needs some lens magic

[@MrDoboz]

@@freman good luck with that lmao

[@Psychotol]

When you mentioned you were running LEDs in parallel, I didn't know the configuration of the modules (braking resisters present or enhanced internal resistance) and was expecting them all to blow up, all I know is I recall reading somewhere that you don't want to be rigging LEDs in parallel because the one with the weakest forward bias would eat all the current and blow up, funneling all the remaining current through each remaining diode with the lowest forward bias in turn. I'm curious whether the diode modules do have resistors included or the information I read was just flat wrong?

[@mjouwbuis]

They don't include resistors and the information you read was right.... But he screwed them all to the same heatsink (so they would all heat up roughly the same amount) and didn't operate them for hours. Also he used longish wires to connect them which provided at least a small amount of current balancing. Last but not least, they were probably from the same batch or binning, making them close in characteristics also reducing the chances of one of them running away.

[@TheRealThisIsAlex]

These are pretty cool! , It would be overkill but I would use this definitely for landscaping lights lol.

[@erickvond6825]

I'd be super interested to see what would happen if the beam were properly columnated and driven at it's maximum power. That is provided that you can somehow determine it's maximum operating power. Generally speaking with LEDs you can find it's peak power by the sudden rise in light output. I'm not sure if newer laser diodes work the same way as I haven't had much chance to experiment with them hence the reason I'd be super interested in an episode like that.

[@casemodder89]

leds never have a sudeen rise in output. the efficieny drops with higher current. but the higher current provides higher output. so you ride on a efficiency vers. output curve. like PV modules but vice versa.

[@JayWye52]

the old sealed-beam headlight bulbs were made with a "fresnel" lens in the front to shape the beam pattern so it would not shine into oncoming traffic. the new style headlights,IDK how they shape the beam to do that,maybe shape of the reflector. what irks me is that the plastic front of the assembly clouds up and yellows after the UV protective coating wears off. then your light output is really diminished.

[@Lampe2020]

For some reason this video failed to show up in my notifications even though I am subscribed to you with all notifications enabled…

[@DrHarryT]

That is a problem, the retrofit LED headlamps aren't very intense. There is a DOT legal maximum which they're definitely under. The real question is that if... The Laser device is over the DOT legal limit?

[@johnhosky2931]

Ready to see how far you can drive it without the phosphor!!

[@gabrielv.4358]

Awesome video!

[@AriBenDavid]

The laser diode driver circuits I am familiar with do not even rely on constant current but use feedback from a light detector on the diode. Not needed here?

[@BertoldVdb]

That is uncommon on high power laser diodes, they are much less fragile than old 1mW diodes.

[@mattcole2863]

Ok. This video has added a few things to my wish list.

[@NoSTs123]

I think this would be good for my bike. I am using a very dim Halogen at the moment. And its just too dark in the winter. I just need a driver and a suitible power source and this would be really cool. Or just as a very bright flash light.

[@N4CR]

No, the beam is very narrow, just build an LED with TIR/optics to make a 30° beam or so.

[@beargillium2369]

just get an LED...

[@NoSTs123]

yeah, you are right

[@OhmSteader]

I like to monitor the heat closely when testing LEDs and try to use less current than necessary to extend the life. Also never look into a laser light with your good eye.

[@soulshinobi]

I love the eerie background ambience that make you think an extraterrestrial might abduct him at any moment.